Okay, here’s your last homework assignment for Denis Villeneuve’s
Blade Runner 2049, at least beyond, you know, rewatching
your preferred version of Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic. Early reviews are
just hitting the airwaves and are overwhelmingly positive—not to make it harder
to keep expectations in check or anything. But most of us still have a while to
wait, but take a few minutes to gawk at the third and final prequel short.
It’s been a few years since Ridley Scott dropped Blade
Runner in 1982. By the time Blade Runner 2049 hits
in October, that’s 35 years. The first film takes place in the still-distant
future of 2019, while the long-gestating sequel follows a similar timeline to
reality, and occurs 30 later, hence the numerical title. Obviously, that leaves
a lot of ground to cover in between the two. To fill in some gaps, check out a short
new prequel, Nexus: 2036.
As much as belong to the camp that Ridley Scott’s 1982
sci-fi classic Blade Runner doesn’t need a sequel—it’s a
goddamned masterpiece—I’ll cop to being all kinds of jazzed for Blade Runner 2049. It looks weird and mysterious and like an extension of
the original atmospherically, aesthetically, and tonally. Hell, even the score
sounds like an inevitable evolution of what came before. We have to wait until
October to actually see it, but this majestic new trailer should keep us
occupied for a few minutes.
I’m admittedly skeptical about things like sequels to
game-changing classics that arrive, I don’t know, let’s say 35 years after the original.
In most cases, I’d rather Hollywood leave well enough alone, but since that’s
never going to happen, at least we can hope these movies are good. And holy
shit, does Blade Runner 2049 look good. Check out the new
trailer below. Any lingering skepticism (very little at this point) I had just
got blown to dust.
Okay, I’m going to come right out and say this: Denis Villeneuve
should only make science fiction movies from now on. Arrival
is going to land very near the apex of my top movies of 2016 list, and though
it’s less than two-minutes-long, the first trailer for the long-in-the-works
Blade Runner 2049 looks spectacular.
